Re: Question about google map API geocoding

Well, it all depends on what you want to do with it really.

The advantage is, you can geocode anything from an IP Address to a physical address and convert it to coordinates, and display it with Google Maps right in your application, whatever your trying to write. The only disadvantage I can even think of is sometimes the API goes down, but that can be alleviated by using Yahoo Maps as a secondary API. The world would have to end in order for both to not work .

With Rails is relatively easy too. Someone already took the time to write a plugin to help you do it called GeoKit. If you download that and YM4R into your rails app, and it makes your job alot of easier. Just Google the 2 plugins to get the URL. Then just run a "script/plugin install <url>" for each.

Re: Question about google map API geocoding

From my experience, the advantage is that geocoding in Google Maps API is easy to use, just a piece of codes and the job will be done. The disadvantage is that it is not accurate all the time, I've seen quite a few times that it translates a foreign location to somewhere in United States, like Jersey - Jersey, a place in UK, is translated to somewhere in New Jersey.

I general, I recommend geocoding in Google Maps API. I myself use it to build services, like http://www.trackingnumber.org/, a package tracking service that combines traditional text tracking information with Google Maps.